Germany · Europe
Gießen sits on the route: 10 minutes from Allendorf an der Lahn, 36km from Saalburg Roman Fort.
Gießen is a town located in Germany. With a population of 0, it is an important destination in Europe.
On a road trip, Gießen sits in Germany, where you drive on the right. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add Gießen to your route.
The Botanischer Garten Gießen (4 hectares), more formally the Botanischer Garten der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, is a historic botanical garden maintained by the University of Giessen. It is the oldest botanical garden in Germany still at its original site, with an entrance at Senckenbergstraße 6, Gießen, Hesse,Read more
Germany. It is open daily without charge.
The garden was founded in 1609 when Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, donated part of the palace garden to his newly established university for cultivation as a hortus medicus, following the earlier creation of such gardens at Leipzig (1580), Heidelberg (1597) and Eichstätt (1600). Physician and botanist Ludwig Jungermann (1572–1653) laid out the garden over an area of 1200 m2. The garden fell into decay during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), but in 1699 the construction of a coldhouse for frost-sensitive plants was recorded, and in 1720 its first glasshouse was built (subsequently demolished in 1859). By 1773 the garden was described as a botanical garden rather than hortus medicus.
In 1802 the university's new forestry garden was established adjacent to the botanical garden by Friedrich Ludwig Walther (1759–1824). In 1805, when the city's fortress wall was torn down, the resultant space was incorporated into the garden; its remnants are still present under an artificial hill. Garden director Johann Bernhard Wilbrand united the botanical and forestry gardens, at which time the garden reached its present area. When the forestry garden was then moved in 1825 to today's site at the Akademischer Forstgarten Gießen, its magnificent trees remained as part of the botanical garden. The garden was rearranged in 1891 to reflect a systematic organization, and in the early 1900s a large tropical house was constructed. The tropical house was destroyed in World War II, and the garden itself severely damaged. The garden has now been thoroughly restored.
Today the garden contains around 8,000 species of plants, primarily for research use by students of botany, agronomy, geography, medicine, and veterinary medicine.
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Gießen offers many attractions including tourist sites, museums, parks, and local restaurants. Explore famous landmarks, scenic roads, and natural wonders on our interactive map and plan your visit.
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Gießen is located in Germany, Europe. The coordinates are 50.5873 latitude, 8.6755 longitude.
Gießen has a population of approximately 0 people, making it a town in Germany.
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Essential numbers in Germany
ADAC roadside assistance: +49 89 22 22 22. No general speed limit on some autobahn sections but advisory 130 km/h.
Full driving guide for Germany5 notable places within an hour's drive.
historic highway
A German road circuit in the Vogelsberg hills that hosted motorcycle Grands Prix in the 1950s, notorious for its narrow, tree-lined public roads. Still used for historic events and drivable in between.
33 km · about 40 min drive
ancient ruins
A fully reconstructed Roman fort on the Limes frontier in the Taunus hills brings legionary life vividly back to view.
36 km · about 40 min drive
museum
Opened in 2023 in rural Hesse, this 7,500 m² museum parades some 150 milestone cars, from pre-war Grand Prix machines to Le Mans winners and modern hypercars.
36 km · about 40 min drive
cathedral
A seven-towered orange-and-white Romanesque cathedral perches dramatically on a rock above the Lahn River old town.
49 km · about 55 min drive
landmark
Frankfurt's medieval town hall and its gabled Römerberg square form a postcard-perfect old-town heart amid the skyscrapers.
53 km · about 60 min drive
April to October
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